TRIPOLI, June 7 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) has claimed responsibility for a Tuesday's air strike that killed four Islamic State (IS) terror suspects.
"In coordination with the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA), U.S. forces conducted a precision air strike near Bani Walid, Libya, on June 6, killing four ISIS-Libya militants," AFRICOM said in a statement on Wednesday.
The strike was carried out on the outskirts of the Libyan city of Bani Walid, some 180 km southeast of the capital Tripoli.
"At this time, we assess no civilians were killed in this strike," the statement said.
AFRICOM stressed that the United States "will not relent in its mission to degrade, disrupt, and destroy terrorist organizations and bring stability to the region."
"We are committed to maintaining pressure on the terror network and preventing terrorists from establishing (a) safe haven."
An official source in the joint security chamber of Bani Walid on Wednesday revealed that an unidentified foreign drone aircraft targeted radical groups' headquarters in Bgila area in the valley of Kamkum on the outskirts of Bani Walid.
The uninhabited Kamkum valley, located some 140 km south of Bani Walid,is one of the most important areas in which the remnants of militant groups take shelter and operate.
The joint security chamber announced a maximum alert in the city after monitoring movements of IS affiliates in its suburbs in January 2018.
A U.S. warplane carried out an air strike in March in southern Libya, targeting two senior al-Qaeda leaders in the Islamic Maghreb.
